Unterseeboot 183 was a Type IXC/40 U-boat laid down at the AG Weser Shipyard in Bremen in May 1941 and commissioned into Kriegsmarine service in April 1942. Assigned to the Atlantic U-Boat Fleet, the U-183 made two successful war patrols to North and Central America by May 1943 and had notched two kills to her records.

Upon her return to the Lorient U-Boat pens in May 1943 the U-183 and her crew received orders to join the Monsun Gruppe, a flotilla of U-Boats operating in the Indian Ocean and Dutch East Indies against British, American and Allied merchant shipping. Standing out of Lorient on July 3rd, the U-183 and her crew sailed around Cape Horn and arrived at Penang, Malaysia 120 days later and began their Indian Ocean operations. After a refit period following her long voyage the U-183 departed on her first of two successful war patrols in the Indian Ocean in February 1944 and by the time of her departure for her third in April 1945 she had claimed a further four merchant ships sunk.

Forced to withdraw from Penang and Singapore due to the Allied advance, the U-183 received her final refit at Kobe in February before departing from Batavia on her 6th War Patrol off New Guinea. Three days out of port the U-183 was running on the surface at dawn on April 23rd when she crossed the path of the USS Besugo (SS-321), a patrolling American Submarine also running on the surface. Advanced radar allowed the US sub to detect the U-183 before it came into visual range, and her Captain remained on the surface to use his subs speed to get into firing position on the U-183.

Loosing a spread of torpedoes at the quick-moving target, the Besugo remained on the surface and prepared to attack her target with her deck gun if the torpedoes did not find their mark. As her crews anxiously waited for the order to open fire, the first of two torpedoes slammed into the U-183 and broke the Veteran U-boat into three pieces which quickly flooded and sank, taking all but one member of her crew with them to the bottom at this location on April 23rd, 1945.

China is taking the highly unusual step of refusing to participate in a United Nations arbitration process over a territorial conflict with the Philippines, one of five countries challenging Beijing’s claims of ownership over the oil-rich South China Sea.

The legal dispute underscores the tough geopolitical approach China is adopting in the Pacific region. It has adopted an aggressive approach toward neighbours over a 2,000-mile stretch that also includes the East China Sea, over which it recently declared the air defence identification zone that has inflamed tensions with Japan and South Korea.

China sent its only aircraft carrier to the disputed waters off the coast of the Philippines for the first time last week, in a move Manila said raised tensions. China’s military said the carrier Liaoning will conduct drills in the area, accompanied by two destroyers and two frigates.

Japan placed its on alert on Friday after two Russian Tupolev Tu-95 Bear strategic bombers flew near its airspace, the Japanese military said.

The two Russian bombers reportedly flew near Japan’s northernmost Hokkaido island and flew above the Sea of Japan past the Honshu island.

The Russian aircraft did not violate the country’s airspace, but Japanese fighter jets were put on alert, the Japan Self-Defense Forces said.

An island that sprouted out of the Pacific thanks to an undersea volcanic eruption some 600 miles south of Tokyo last month might just be here to stay.

Scientists initially guessed the new island would soon sink below the surface — Pakistan's newest island is doing just that — but satellite images show the little mound has actually grown since its birth, so Japan has decided to name it.

Niijima, as it's called, is now 19.8 acres or five times its initial size, NBC News reports. And while it may not be a permanent mark on the globe, it's not likely to go anywhere soon.

"We don't know the fate of the island," a Japan Meteorological Agency rep tells the AFP. "But it won't disappear in days or weeks, and will probably last for several years ... unless a huge volcanic eruption happens and blows it apart."

That assessment is based on part on the fact that a recent satellite image shows signs of ongoing volcanic activity.

"We are still seeing a wisp of smoke and some ash coming from the islet, and occasionally there is lava belching forth, so the islet may grow even bigger," the rep added.